‘Saturday Night Live’ Loses Another Cast Member

The past few months have been a period of attrition for NBC’s sketch staple “Saturday Night Live,” and now word has surfaced that another cast member, Abby Elliott, is leaving the show, The New York Times reports.

The news follows the exits of regulars Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg.

The Times reports: “Ms. Elliott, who joined ‘SNL’ as a featured performer during its 2008-9 season, told the Web site Splitsider.com that she would not be returning to that long-running late-night comedy series. NBC declined to comment on Wednesday but a person with direct knowledge of plans at the show confirmed the report.”

Another cast member, Jason Sudeikis, has also hinted that he might be on the way out, as previously reported. His status remains unknown, The Times points out.

The report adds: “In her four seasons at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Ms. Elliott, a daughter of the comedian and onetime ‘SNL’ cast member Chris Elliott (and granddaughter of Bob Elliott, of the Bob and Ray comedy team), provided impersonations of famous figures like Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Zooey Deschanel and Rachel Maddow.”

The show, set to debut its 38th season on Sept. 15, continues to hold auditions for new cast members. Two prime-time “Weekend Update” specials are in the works, to air Sept. 20 and Sept. 27.